Wire-fence stretcher.



T. R. G. SMITH.`

WIRE FENCE STRETGHBR.

APPLwATIoN FILED DEG. 1o, 1912.

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THOMAS R. G. SMTH, OF "WARREN, ARKANSAS.

WIRE-FENCE STRETCHER.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lFeb. 24;, 1914.

Application filed December 10, 1912. Serial No. 735,942.

To all whom it may cof/werft:

Be it known that l, THOMAS R. G. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of lllarren, in the county of Bradley and State of Arkansas, have invented a new and Improved lVire-Fence Stretcher, of which the following is a full, clear7 and exact description.

My invention relates particularly to stretching devices for stretching the wires of wire fences, and it is a design of my invention to improve in various particulars devices of the general character indicated, to the end that efliciency in operation may be promoted, as well as economy of manufacture, lightness of construction, and simplicity of adjustment and control.

ln carrying out the invention, use is made of a jack screw operated by a T-handle similar to the handle of the common bench vise,

and an elongated tubular base that is threaded internally to receive the jack screw, and bears against the post to which the fence wires are to be secured. The wires are received in and gripped by a standard, which is connected with the jack screw through the medium of a yoke that is adjustable to different heights on the standard, and is swiveled to the jack screw.

The invention will be more particularly explained in the specific description hereinafter to be given.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specifloat-ion, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views,

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a wire stretcher embodying my invention, showing the same in use; FiO. 2 is a sectional plan view, indicating also a post to which the wire is secured, and a series of wires; and l? ig 3 is a detail horizontal section through the standard, showing the manner of gripping a wire.

In constructing the illustrated embodiment of my invention, an elongated tubular base 10 is provided, and in said base a jack screw 11 is received. A nut 11 on the screw 11 has lugs 11b that are received in recesses 10 in the end of the tubular base 10. rihe base may be provided with a broadening foot 12, which is adapted to have a bearing` against a post A to which the wires B are secured. At the outer end the jack screw is formed with a head 13, in which is a transverse aperture 14 that receives a lever handle 15 similar to the handle of the ordinary bench vise, and is therefore in the form of a T-iandle that may be slid freely in the aperture 14 in either direction. A standard 16 is employed in the form of a U-bar, the back or U-bend of which is disposed toward the jack screw 11, the flanges or U-frames 17 project away from the jack screw, and one of said flanges is formed in the front edge thereof with a vertical series of V-shaped notches 18 that reeeive and grip the various wires B. The notches extend substantially from the top to the bottom of the standard so as to accommodate all the wires of a wire fence, and the notches are sutliciently close to properly receive the fence wires regardless of any variations in the number and the spacing of the wires. in the flanges 17 there is also formed a series of transverse apertures 19, at the central portion of the standard and extending above and below the actual transverse center, the apertures in the respective flanges alining transversely. Passing transversely through alined apertures is a bolt 2O which passes also through transverse apertures in a U-shaped yoke 21 that embraces the standard 16 at theA back and sides, and said yoke at the back thereof is swiveled, as at 23, to the head 13 of the jack screw 11. The lever handle 15 is employed in the same manner as the similar device in a bench vise, that is, the handle is slid transversely of the jack screw so that it will constitute substantially a single lever arm, leaving no projection at the side of the jack screw adjacent to the fence wires B.

rl`lie stretcher is applied as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with the foot 12 of the base 10 bearing against the side of the fence post A facing the direction in which the wires are to be stretched, and the several wires B are engaged with notches 18, the wires being given an approximate tautness by the hand. "With a stretcher thus arranged, a few turns of the jack screw through the medium of the T- handle 15, will cause a powerful stretching force to be exerted on the wires, so that the latter are drawn taut almost instantly, and the tension of the wires will maintain the stretcher firmly in position, leaving the operator free to secure the wires E to the fence A by the usual fastening devices. Similarly, a few reverse turns of the lever handle will relieve the tension on the free ends of the wires, and permit the disengagement of the jack screw from the said Wire,

It will be observed that the device employs but very few elements in all, and that these are of simple but very strong, though light7 construction.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A Wire stretcher comprising a tubular base having a foot adapted to bear against a post or the like, to which the Wire is to be secured, a jack screw movable in said tubular base and provided With a transversely apertured head, an operating handle loosely fitting the aperture of the head, and freely slidable therein in opposite directions7 a. "U-shaped yoke swveled to the head at the eXtreme forward end of the latter, and formed with alined apertures transverse to theV head, a standard having' a vertical series of apertures at its central port-ion, and a. bolt adapted to pass through the apertures of the yoke and through the apertures of the standard, said standard having means to receive Wire to be stretched.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

THOMAS R. G. SMITH. Witnesses H. E. BOND, lV. A. DnNsoN.

Sopics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

